The present work, "Genealogical and Family History of Northern
New York," presents in the aggregate an amount and variety of
genealogical and personal information and portraiture unequalled by any
kindred publication. Indeed, no similar work concerning the families of
this region has ever before been presented. It contains a vast amount of
ancestral history never before printed. The object clearly defined and
well digested was threefold:

First. To present in concise form the history of Northern New York
Families of the Colonial Days.

Second. To preserve a record of the prominent present-day people of
the region.

Third. To present through personal sketches the relation of its
prominent families of all times to the growth, singular prosperity and
widespread influence of this portion of the Empire State.

There are numerous voluminous histories of the State, making it
unnecessary in this work to even outline its annals. What has been
published, however, relates principally to civic life. The amplification
necessary to complete the picture of the section, old and nowadays, is
what is supplied in large measure by these Genealogical and Family
Memoirs. In other words, while others have written of the "the
times," the province of this work is to be a chronicle of the
people who have made Northern New York what it is.

Unique in conception and treatment, this work will constitute one of
the most original and permanently valuable contributions ever made to
the social history of an American commonwealth. In it are arrayed ina
lucid and dignified manner all the important facts regarding the
ancestry, per

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sonal careers and matrimonial alliances of many who, in each
succeeding generation, have been accorded leading positions in the
social, professional and business life of the State. Nor has it been
based upon, neither does it minister to, aristocratic prejudices and
assumptions. On the contrary, its fundamental ideas are thoroughly
American and democratic. The work everywhere conveys the lesson that
distinction has been gained only by honorable public service, or by
usefulness in private station, and that the development and prosperity
of the region of which it treats has been dependent upon the character
of its citizens, and in the stimulus which they have given to commerce,
to industry, to the arts and sciences, to education and religion--to all
that is comprised in the highest civilization of the present
day--through a continual progressive development.

The inspiration underlying the present work is a fervent appreciation
of the truth so well expressed by Sir Walter Scott, that "there is
no heroic poem in the world but is at the bottom the life of a
man." And with this goes a kindred truth, that to know a man, and
rightly measure his character, and weigh his achievements, we must know
whence he came, from what forbears he sprang. Truly a heroic poems have
been written inhuman lives in the paths of peace as in the scarred roads
of war. Such examples, in whatever line of endeavor, are of much worth
as an incentive to those who came afterward, and as such were never so
needful to be written of as in the present day, when pessimism,
forgetful of the splendid lesions of the past, withholds its effort in
the present, and views the future only with alarm.

Every community with such ample history as this, should see that it
be worthily supplemented by Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of its
leading families and prominent citizens. Such a work is that which is
now presented. And it should be admitted, the undertaking possesses
value of the highest importance --in its historic utility a memorial
of the development and progress of the community from its very founding,
and in the personal interest which attaches to the record made by the
individual. On both these accounts it will prove a highly useful
contribution to literature, and a valuable legacy to future generations.
One of these considerations the authors and publishers have received the

Page v

encouragement and approval of authorities of the highest standing as
genealogists, historian and litterateurs. In the production of this
work, no pains have been spared to ensure absolute truth--that quality
upon which its value in every feature depends. The material comprising
the genealogical and personal records of the active living, as well as
of the honored dead, was gathered by men and women experienced in such
work and acquainted with local history and ancestral families. These
have appealed to the custodians of family records concerning the useful
men of preceding generations, and of their descendants who have lived
useful and honorable lives. Such custodians, who have availed themselves
of this opportunity of having this knowledge placed in preservable and
accessible form, have performed a public service in rendering honor to
whom honor is due, in preserving the distinction which rightfully
belongs to the Colonial Families, and which distinguishes them from
later immigrations; and in inculcating the most valuable and enduring
lessons of patriotism and good citizenship.

There is probably no section of the United States in which are so
well preserved the ideas and characteristics of the original New England
immigrants, as in Northern New York. At the time when most of the
pioneer settlers located in this region, the war for American
Independence has just closed, and many of them were fresh from the
struggle, imbued with the highest principles of patriotism, and all
brought to their new homes and instilled in their children the practice
of the simple virtues, the industry and enterprise which have made the
sons of New England pre-eminent in every walk of life throughout the
nation. Another important element in the settlement of this section was

Page vi

made up of descendants of the early Dutch settlers who came to New
Amsterdam (New York) before the adoption of surnames among them.

Than this region no other offered a more peculiarly interesting field
for research. Its sons--"native here, and to the manner born,"
and of splendid ancestry--have attained distinction of every field of
human effort. An additional interest attaches to the present undertaking
in the fact that, while dealing primarily with the history of native New
England and New York, this work approaches the dignity of a national
epitome of genealogy and biography. Owing to the wide dispersion
throughout the county of the old families of the State, the authentic
account here presented past and present of the constituent elements of
her social life, is of far more than merely local value. In its special
field it is in an appreciable degree, a reflection of the
development of the country at large, since hence went out
representatives of historical families, in various generations, who in
far remote places--beyond the Mississippi and in the Far West--were with
the vanguard of civilization, building up communities, creating new
commonwealths, planting, wherever they went, the church, the schoolhouse
and the printing press, leading into channels of thrift and enterprise
all who gathered about the, and proving a power of ideal citizenship and
good government.

It was the consensus of opinion of gentlemen well informed and loyal
to the memories of the past and the needs of the present and future,
that the editorial supervision of William Richard Cutter, A. M., would
ensure the best results attainable in the preparation of material for
the proposed work. For more than a generation past he has given his
leisure to historical and genealogical research and authorship. He was
the author, with his father, of "History of the cutter Family of
New England," 1871-1875; and "History of Arlington,
Massachusetts," 1880; and edited Lieutenant Samuel Thompson's
"Dairy While Serving in the French and Indian War, 1758,"
1896. He also prepared a monograph entitled "Journal of a Forton
Prison, England;"

Page vii

sketches of Arlington and Woburn, Massachusetts, and many articles on
subjects connected with local historical and genealogical matters in
periodical literature. He prepared a "Biography of Woburn,"
and he has been since editor of various historical works outside of his
own city.

In order to insure greatest possible accuracy, all matter for this
work was submitted in typewritten manuscript to the persons most
interest, for correction. If, in any case, a sketch is incomplete or
faulty, the shortcoming it, save in exceptional cases, ascribable to the
paucity of data obtainable, many families being without exact records in
their family line; while, in some cases, representatives of a given
family are at disagreement as to names of some of their forbears,
important dates, etc.

It is believed that the present work, in spite of the occasional
fault which attaches to such undertakings, will prove a real addition to
the mass of annals concerning the historic families of Northern New
York, and that, without it, much valuable information would be
inaccessible to the general reader, or irretrievably lost, owing to the
passing away of custodians of family records, and the consequent
disappearance of material in their possession.